Racial Discrimination

By Keegan Jamison

Summary of "42"

"42" is a story about Jackie Robinson, an African-American baseball player who started at the bottom in the Negro Leagues, and eventually worked his way up to the majors to play for the Brooklyn Dodgers. Jackie faced many struggles because of the color of his skin. For instance, he was often not allowed to eat with his teammates in restaurants on long road trips, and would have to take long bus rides to games instead of flights. Jackie fought through so much adversity, but could not do or say anything to anyone else because of orders by the Dodgers owner, Branch Rickey. Jackie paved the way for many more African-Americans, which is why his story is so important.

How Discrimination Changed Throughout the Film

At the beginning of the movie racism is a huge issue with Jackie. He had to face racism and discrimination on and off the playing field. When he first entered the Dodgers locker room, there were already guys that were saying they want to get traded to different teams. Jackie didn't care, he just did what he does best; played baseball. During games there would be fans in the stands shouting racial slurs at Jackie, and even coaches of opposing teams would do the same. Jackie couldn't do anything about it, otherwise he would be booted from the team and the league immediately. Jackie kept fighting throughout the season, and proved that he was a valuable member of the team. Eventually, his teammates started liking and respecting him because they realized how good of a ballplayer he was. In the end Jackie was still discriminated against, but a great deal of people had respect for him and the way he played ball.

Racism and Discrimination Still Exist

Racism has been a problem since the beginning of time, and there are millions of people making an effort to stop racism. Stereotypes are often formed about different races, which leads to racism. Studies have shown that police are more likely to pull over and frisk blacks or Latinos than whites. In New York City, 80% of the stops made were blacks and Latinos, and 85% of those people were frisked, compared to a mere 8% of the white people stopped. This stat shows that although people might not admit it, they still subconsciously form stereotypes about different races. Discrimination also exists in the world today. No matter what color of skin someone is, there will always be times when they are harassed because of it. Races are often misinterpreted. For instance, some people may think that a lady is Mexican, when in reality she is a mixture of White and Latino. Although racism and discrimination still exists, the world has improved immensely on those two subjects.

Remember the Titans

Coach Boone was an African-American football coach who was just given the Head Coach title at TC Williams HS. This caused a lot of commotion because Coach Yoast, a future Hall of Famer, was the current occupant of the job. White and Black players were on the team, and they weren't used to playing with each other. Coach Yoast was bitter at first, but then realized that he and Coach Boone could be a great coaching duo. The players went on to learn to like each other, and fought through adversity in order to be a successful team. In the end, the Titans won the State Title, which is why people will always Remember the Titans.